A Kentucky woman is making it her mission to get the word out about the rare, deadly brain disorder that killed her husband.

A Kentucky woman is making it her mission to get the word out about the rare, deadly brain disorder that killed her husband.

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Updated: 9:11 AM EST Nov 13, 2014

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WEBVTT WORD OUT ABOUT A RARE, DEADLY BRAIN DISORDER THAT KILLED HER HUSBAND. TODAY, LINDA PARRISH COMPLETED A PROCLAMATION REQUEST. IT ASKS GOVERNOR BESHEAR TO MAKE NOVEMBER 12TH CREUTZFELDT JAKOB DISEASE AWARENESS DAY. W-L-K-Y'S MARISSA ALTER HAS HER STORY. He was compassionate and he was driven and wanted nothing but the best for his family. LINDA PARRISH MET THE LOVE OF HER LIFE ON A BLIND DATE. SHE MARRIED HUSBAND CLAY ON NOVEMBER 3RD, 2007. THEY HAD 6 AND A HALF YEARS TOGETHER AND TWO CHILDREN. IT WAS SEPTEMBER OF LAST YEAR WHEN LINDA NOTICED CHANGES IN HIS BEHAVIOR SIMILAR TO DEMENTIA. CLAY WAS 42. I had friends commenting that he would forget certain things. He would be repetitive in certain things and so it really started to cause me to worry because it wasn't like him. DOCTORS FIRST DIAGNOSED CLAY WITH INSOMNIA. I understood that to a degree but a wife knows. AROUND VALENTINE'S DAY, THE PARRISHES HAD THEIR ANSWER: CREUTZFELDT- JAKOB DISEASE OR C-J-D, A RARE, FATAL DEGENERATIVE BRAIN DISORDER. Probably the only thing I remember about that appointment was there was no treatment and there was no cure. C-J-D VARIES FROM PATIENT TO PATIENT, BUT THE AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IS 6 TO 9 MONTHS AFTER DIAGNOSIS. IN THE COMING MONTHS, CLAY'S DEMENTIA PROGRESSED RAPIDLY. Didn't know his own home, he didn't know the layout of his home FORTUNATELY, CLAY DID RECOGNIZE HIS FAMILY, INCLUDING 6 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER SIDNEY AND 4 YEAR OLD SON NICHOLAS. THOUGH DEMENTIA IS THE PRIMARY C-J-D SYMPTOM, IT'S NOT THE ONLY ONE. CLAY HAD TO BE REMOVED FROM THE HOME DUE TO HALLUCINOGENIC NIGHT TERRORS. It is very hard when you can't fight it. That is the hardest thing to try to explain to your children. CLAY LOST HIS BATTLE MAY 9TH ABOUT 3 MONTHS AFTER HIS DIAGNOSIS. LINDA SAYS HER FAITH HAS KEPT HER GOING ALONG WITH SUPPORT FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THERE'S ALSO HER MISSION. The best thing I can do for his legacy is to raise awareness of this dreadful disease. 85 percent of the cases are sporadic. They don't know why it happens. We have to do better. MARISSA ALTER WLKY NEWS THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL SAYS C-J-D AFFECTS ONE IN ONE MILLION PEOPLE EACH YEAR. BUT LINDA BELIEVES IT IS LIKELY MORE THAN THAT DUE TO LACK OF AWARENESS. THERE IS NO TRUE DIAGNOSIS FOR C-J-D EXCEPT A BIOPSY OR